Last November some lucky Iranians in New York got a card in the mail inviting them to attend a reception for an art exhibition. The card read: "The exhibition glorifies the magnificent artistry of the... Qajar dynasty (1794-1925)." Indeed it did.

The show was at the Alex Gallery, owned by Richard Ariyeh, on fashionable 57th Street, and attended by very fashionable Iranians, many of them, presumably, the children and grand children of Qajar princes, or Shazdehs, as they still address themselves.

"These works have been purchased over the years," said Ariyeh, who is the only gallery owner in New York specifically specializing in Iranian art. He said a new show of early examples of Persian calligraphy would be displayed by the Iranian New Year's in March.

Alex Gallery organizes several free lectures a year on Persian art by Dr. Layla S. Diba, associate curator at the Brooklyn Museum's Asian Art Department and 10 percent of sales are donated to the Persian Cultural and Humanitarian Association Educational Fund.